The Resume

(April 4, 1922-August 18, 2004)
Wrote music for 'Gunsmoke (1955-1975),' 'The Man with the Golden Arm (1955),' 'The Ten Commandments (1956),' 'The Magnificent Seven (1960),' 'Birdman of Alcatraz (1962),' 'To Kill a Mockingbird (1962),' 'The Great Escape (1963),' 'Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967),' 'True Grit (1969),' 'Animal House (1978),' 'Moonraker (1979),' 'Meatballs (1979),' 'The Blues Brothers (1980),' 'Airplane! (1980),' 'Stripes (1981),' 'An American Werewolf in London (1981),' 'Trading Places (1983),' 'Ghost Busters (1984),' 'Bolero (1984),' 'Spies Like Us (1985),' 'National Geographic Explorer (1985- ),' 'Leonard Part 6 (1986),' 'My Left Foot (1989),' 'The Grifters (1990),' 'A Rage in Harlem (1991),' 'Cape Fear (1991),' 'The Age of Innocence (1993),' 'John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997),' 'Wild Wild West (1999)' and 'Far From Heaven (2002)'

Why he might be annoying:

Many of the movies he scored were of low quality.
He composed the music to what is considered one of the worst movies ever, 'Robot Monster.'
He never became a household name like the film composers Bernard Herrmann and John Williams.
His theme for 'The Magnificent Seven' was used in TV commercials for Marlboro cigarettes.
Many people assume he was related to the great composer Leonard Bernstein, but he wasn't.

Why he might not be annoying:

His parents were Greenwich Village bohemians who had drunken parties all night, and didn't pay much attention to him.
He served as a U.S. Army airman in World War II.
He made it onto Senator Joe McCarthy's blacklist in the 1950's (a fact that always made him proud).
He was prolific, once writing eleven scores in a single year.
He felt it was wrong for directors to take all the credit for movies, when so many others are actually involved in the process.
He was nominated for eleven Oscars, but only won once.
He contributed spooky music to Michael Jackson's famous 'Thriller' video.
He outlived fellow movie composer Jerry Goldsmith by almost a month.

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 10 Commandments [1956]
• AFI's 100 Years of Film's 25 Greatest Film Scores [Composers] (Ranked: 8)
• AFI's 100 Years of Film's 25 Greatest Film Scores [Composers] (Ranked: 17)
• Airplane! [1980]
• Blacklisted
• Celebrities who Served in World War II [1939-45]
• Film Composers
• I Died in 2004 (Ranked: 82)
• I Have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[A-B]
• Look at Me, I Got My Hands Up
• My Music was Lost in the 2008 Universal Studios Fire
• Profiles 12001-12250 (Ranked: 12249)
• Wieland Kalligaro's Profiles [Series 3]

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 10.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 27.27% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 31 Votes: 48.39% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 33 Votes: 42.42% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 36 Votes: 61.11% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 73 Votes: 54.79% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 145 Votes: 46.21% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 236 Votes: 43.22% Annoying
In 2004, Out of 187 Votes: 47.06% Annoying